Arch Linux

kmakaron1

Member

Registered: 2013-09-30

Posts: 1

Two Arch Linuxes on the same machine with UEFI

Hello,
I want to install two Arch Linux distributions on the same machine in order to analyze a problem. They will not be updated in lockstep.
EFI partition is mounted on /boot.
The linux image vmlinuz-linux and initramfs-linux.img will be overwritten on the update on one of the linuxes.
How can I use distinct names for the kernel and the initrd image for the both of Archs, and use them for the gummiboot entries?
Thank you.

alphaniner

Member

From: Ancapistan

Registered: 2010-07-12

Posts: 2,810

Re: Two Arch Linuxes on the same machine with UEFI

Initrd images are easy. Just edit your preset files (/etc/mkinitcpio.d/*.preset) and mkinitcpio will take care of everything for you. I don't think there's an easy pre-existing way to automatically rename the kernel. I have two installs on my machine, but they're pretty much updated 'in lockstep' and a script handles kernel naming. Can't help you with EFI, my systems are BIOS.

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cfr

Member

From: Cymru

Registered: 2011-11-27

Posts: 7,156

Re: Two Arch Linuxes on the same machine with UEFI

You can't do this with gummiboot but you could use a separate /boot for each installation. rEFInd, for example, can use kernels and initramfses from other partitions so they don't need to be on the ESP.

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fschiff

Member

Registered: 2011-10-06

Posts: 71

Re: Two Arch Linuxes on the same machine with UEFI

Containers (like BSD jails) are a possibility as well.